Community contributions to non-supported packages

Like many of you, when I find code that doesn't work, I often fix it.  For me, this is one of the joys of Smalltalk.  And it's awesome that Squeak and Pharo have an inbox where I can share my fix while it's being considered for incorporation into the image.  What would be awesome is if there was a similar process for projects on SqS.  I know that the community-supported packages idea covers a segment of these (that qualify based on tests, etc.), but this leaves (most?) packages on SqS that may be valuable to the community but will not qualify as supported.

After fixing the HTML & CSS Validating Parser on SqS, and having to upload to a special repo because I did not have write access, I sent the following to the Pharo list:
<snip>
However, this is a lovely opportunity to repeat my call for either (or maybe both):
* (my favorite) create an inbox for each project on SqS, just like for Squeak and Pharo trunk, so users can choose between the bleeding edge (which would include contributions like this one) or the last officially blessed one; but they would all be in the same place and obvious to find.
* or, send an email to all SqS emails saying that if they don't affirm responsibility for their project within X amount of time, the repo will be released to the community i.e. made w/r.

I also seem to remember a suggestion at one point to have a list of people that were approved to commit to any repo on SqS.

The point is, make it easy to contribute and people will.  It is a downer to go through the work of fixing packages, only to put them in my own repo where they may never be found by users, because the repo is read-only and I can't get in touch with the admins.

<rant> 
Also, adding oneself to each repo is RUBBISH!!!!!  Even though I usually take the time, I shudder at the thought of all the community fixes that were kept personally or thrown away because it was a hassle to share them.  I'm sure many people, like me, just fix things that are broken.  This is the whole beauty of a live system that's turtles all the way down - my system's menus are broken, great, I just spend 20 minutes fixing them for every user on the planet vs. the typical X months (if ever) for an OS vendor to get around to a fix
</rant> 

Sean

Sean P. DeNigris wrote:
> Like many of you, when I find code that doesn't work, I often fix it.  For
> me, this is one of the joys of Smalltalk.  And it's awesome that Squeak and
> Pharo have an inbox where I can share my fix while it's being considered for
> incorporation into the image.  What would be awesome is if there was a
> similar process for projects on SqS.

+1

Can I also add to that, the descriptions of many useful projects are out
of date, and while there is a wiki tab it never gets updated - even with
helpful tips that others have found about the package - for exactly the
same reason.

I notice the seaside book lets people add comments - why can't SqS do
this (maybe if you are a vetted member to avoid spam)?

Tim

TimM wrote:

> Can I also add to that, the descriptions of many useful projects are out
> of date, and while there is a wiki tab it never gets updated - even with
> helpful tips that others have found about the package - for exactly the
> same reason.
>
> I notice the seaside book lets people add comments - why can't SqS do
> this (maybe if you are a vetted member to avoid spam)?

Correction - discovered I wasn't logged in properly, you can edit the
wiki (although not the over-view, which is usually where most of the
information is).

Still it would be more community friendly if people did look after their
projects (including descriptions).

Possibly the problem is that there is no way to move shelved projects to
an "archived" section - signaling its not been maintained and needs a
new owner (or stays in the attic).

Also maybe SqS should email owners every 6 months (especially if there
is no activity on the project) and remind them to update the description
or (if we had archive) mark their project as archived?

Tim

On 8/18/10, Sean P. DeNigris <[hidden email]> wrote:
[snip]
>
> After fixing the HTML & CSS Validating Parser on SqS, and having to upload
> to a special repo because I did not have write access, I sent the following
> to the Pharo list:

> <snip>
> However, this is a lovely opportunity to repeat my call for either (or maybe
> both):
> * (my favorite) create an inbox for each project on SqS, just like for
> Squeak and Pharo trunk, so users can choose between the bleeding edge (which
> would include contributions like this one) or the last officially blessed
> one; but they would all be in the same place and obvious to find.

+1

Hannes

What about inverting the approach like at github?
not adding yourself to  a repo but adding a repo
to you?

So Long,
        -Tobias